Beyond Technology: Exploring Sociocultural Contours Of Artificial Intelligence Integration In India

Abstract

The emergence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in India, which is placed at a very critical crossroad, would practically redraw the socio-economic impact of the country in 5-15 years. This study takes up a qualitative study to examine the potential and pitfalls of AI's future in India while using socio-cultural and political landscapes, on which the run will be made and broken, as determinants of AI's trajectory. This paper utilizes the qualitative method in the analysis of the social-cultural effects of AI, with a special focus on the disparities in adoption and how social framing in India is impacting its use. The following parts have an elaborate literature review with interviews: qualitative with a wide range of stakeholders, including empirical surveys relevant to rounding off the diffused complexities in AI in India. The current research discovers AI to be like a double-edged sword—with the potential to bridge existing socio-economic divides on the one hand and risks for even furthering these disparities. The opportunities are found to lie in some key areas such as healthcare, education, and agriculture. First, the challenges that these point to include job displacement, digital divides, and disparities in access, all of which call for distinct and definite targets of intervention to ensure that the benefits of AI are felt equitably. As this paper has elaborated, the participatory layers of the multilayered strategy in AI adoption include policy reforms, educational efforts, and infrastructure building, accompanied by inclusive mechanisms. It discusses the most crucial factors that help derive meaning from the role and impacts of AI integration in India's socio-cultural and politico contexts. It is hoped that the present research could contribute in a small but meaningful way toward a more balanced discourse of AI in India and, in so doing, help translate the ideal of technology into a society serving justice, inclusiveness, and cultural richness.